Tex remains frozen in place, using his eyes to scan the area around him. He inhales through his nose to see if he can smell anything. Since awakening in this body, his senses seem to have been enhanced, maybe because of his elven half. To the west, the sounds of men moving in a camp that is about half a mile away can be heard as well as the man urinating to the south of his position by a few hundred yards, seeing that it was only a sentry. But it was the tree that seems to have captured the coyote attention.
Staring at the tree for about five minutes, he mutters under his breath. "What do my eyes not see, is there something hidden." Even with the warning by the coyote. Goosebumps cover both of his arms, the last time it happens to this body, Joseph almost fell into a pit trap that had sharpened stakes in the bottom. Tex always went with his gut, between it and the coyote both have saved his life in the past. It was at that moment that Tex realized that his left hand and fingers were doing a strange movement without his control. It is frighting him for a moment. What surprised him more was a pulse of green light radiated out from him, turning part of the ground ahead of him red as well as the tree. Looking around to be sure no one else saw the light, he spotted several more red spots on the ground off to the south and the north. Before fading away, a weariness seems to hit him all at once. Pulling out the waterskin and taking a long drink and he sat down facing the tree, he been staring at for a while.
He finally made out the bent limb that was pulled back by a rope. The rope went around the base of another tree and across the path ahead of him. After studying the tree for a few more minutes, as the feeling of weariness fade away. He spotted some sharpen sticks lash to the branch that could kill or maim someone from the chest to their head, depending on their height. Moving cautiously forward, seeing the trap was well made and not put together too fast but with meticulous detail. Someone in that war camp is good at traps and snares, and that person would be dangerous to encounter while spending some time searching the two spots that he spotted earlier. He finally found a small pit trap that, if someone steps in, would fall up to his knee, piercing their foot on the stake at the bottom of the trap. All around the side of the small pit was more sharpen sticks, pointed downward at an angle. It would make it hard for someone to pull their leg out without damaging it or puncture an artery. The other trap was a simple trip trap forcing someone to fall onto some small sharpen sticks, and this trap didn't need to trip someone at all. It only needed someone to step on the sharpen sticks to get their feet cut up or fall and stab them in their chest. The best that anyone can wear here is wrap sandals that may have some harden leather under the wrapping to protect the feet but more likely just cloth wrapping, thus making these traps painful and a warning system for the sentries in the area. Looking around, he spotted a small triangle carve into a tree nearby both traps. It was after returning to the first trap that he spotted a third triangle carve in the tree to warn someone of a trap ahead. The thought of disarming the trap was strong, but the mission to rescue the women came first. If he disarms the traps, the person that armed them would know someone with skills was in the area. He didn't need that headache at the moment.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
It took another thirty minutes to make it to the battlefield. The smell of blood still lingers in the air. Spotting a few predators moving around in the moonlight only made the trip across the field to be more troublesome. Not because he might get attack but because he might spook the animals, whereas the sentries might investigate the noises. It took close to midnight before arriving outside the camp. Tex was almost peed on by one of the soldiers after getting close to the camp. That was when he found out a little bit of news when a sentry stopped the man.
"Hey, Gregory! Where your pants thread?" The sentry asks.
Gregory mumble, before unraveling a leather strip from around his wrist, "Sorry Joe. I just woke up and need to take a piss. I put it on now." Kneeling and tying the string around his left leg. Standing back up, he patted the yellow wool band on his right arm. "Still got the band, Joe, so everything okay?"
"Get back to bed before I report you, and you owe me a cup of ale." The sentry said.
Muttering under his breath in agreement, Gregory headed toward the main camp to sleep while waving acknowledgment to Joe as he left.
Tex pulls out a leather ball made up of leather strips and cut a length of one, long enough to tie around his leg. After he was done, he took the yellow wool he got off the bush and tied it around his right arm. Making sure the bandage around his head covered his ears, Tex walks out of the shadows while he pulls up his pants.
Before the sentry could step out, Tex started cursing, "That damn Gregory! I told him to wait until I get done with a dump! The bastard took my wine. When I find that asshole, I going to break his nose!" Exclaiming as he passes by Joe hiding in the shadow of a bush. It is not the first time he uses this ruse to get pass sentries that have become lax in their job. It is easy to pretend you are one of them. It is only half the battle to sneak in. By making them think you belong, it helps fill in their mind on what they want to see. Most people do not expect the enemy to walk into the camp, considering how little the training these people have it like taking candy from a baby.
Joe chuckled to himself over the soldier's loss of wine, seeing that the man has both the armband and his left leg tied above the ankle with a string, so he let him go. Turning back to watch the battlefield to the east shivering, it was a good thing they buried the dead. Sometimes the dead will arise and attack the living. He spent several years fighting the living dead of those they killed after a battle. It was good that the Captain was smart on burying the dead.
Tex arrives in the camp and moves toward the kitchen, looking for some of the village women when he spots one.